RISK MANAGEMENT
AXA XL | December 07, 2021
AXA XL has added new Excess & Surplus (E&S) casualty insurance underwriting expertise with the addition of Matthew Moses as Senior Underwriter in New York and Joshua Steele as Senior Underwriter in Scottsdale, Arizona.
"Given the current hard market conditions in admitted markets and the challenges brought on by pandemic, more severe Cat events, nuclear verdicts, and overall economic strains, the E&S market continues to thrive. We've seen a substantial uptick in submissions and plenty of opportunities to grow. That's why we're excited to welcome seasoned underwriters like Matt and Joshua who bring more than two decades of underwriting experience to our team and are ready to hit-the-ground running to help us address our clients' most challenging primary casualty risks."
- Ankur Chokshi, AXA XL's head of E&S Primary Casualty
With more than 10 years of underwriting experience, Mr. Moses joins AXA XL from CapSpecialty where focused his underwriting activities on addressing the E&S casualty needs of the Construction industry. Prior to CapSpecialty, he was at Admiral Insurance group, working in the Midwest, and building up Admiral's office from ground up. He is a graduate of Indiana University.
Mr. Steele joins AXA XL's E&S team from AmTrust. In this newly created role based in AXA XL's West Zone, Mr. Steele will address the needs of wholesale brokers and clients throughout the Southwest. During his 10+ year-career in the insurance industry, he has held underwriting positions with Nationwide, Liberty Mutual and Travellers. He is a graduate of Georgia State University.
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INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
NEXT Insurance | September 16, 2021
NEXT Insurance, the leading digital insurtech company transforming small business insurance, today announced its strategic rebrand which will integrate small business owners from across the country into every part of the company's business, culture and ethos. NEXT's new brand ambition is inspired by the company's mission to help entrepreneurs thrive and is reflected through new creative work, still photography, visual assets, a website refresh and a commercial campaign to embolden small businesses to "Get Going." Additionally, the company will devote $4 million over the next three years to small businesses.
NEXT's commitment to small businesses is more than just a tagline on our website. It's deeply ingrained into our culture, Beyond our visual rebrand, we've commissioned small business owners across the U.S. to develop our company apparel and team gifts like sweatshirts, notebooks, sustainable tote bags and custom patches. We've engaged independent photographers and videographers to help capture real small businesses for new visual brand assets and have worked with independent musicians to create custom on hold music. Small businesses are more than just our customers - they make up our identity.
- Melanie Chase, Chief Marketing Officer at NEXT.
A key aspect of NEXT's latest brand is to elevate small businesses and demonstrate the company's support in helping them "Get Going." To bring this to life, NEXT partnered with local black and female-owned small businesses, independent musicians and other small business owners for activations to support its strategic rebrand. For example, NEXT purchased its corporate apparel from Stuzo Clothing, a woman-owned gender neutral street wear brand in Los Angeles, and licensed its "on hold" music directly from independent musicians across the country. Customers who contact the company's call center will enjoy songs from independent musicians as well as an exclusive artist introduction to each song.
Between the ongoing struggle of the legacy insurance industry's one-size-fits-all coverage and the immediate impact COVID-19 had on small businesses, NEXT's rebrand came at a critical time for small business owners. To better align the brand to its company ethos, NEXT partnered with independent strategy and design company COLLINS to bring to life and shape its small business-focused mission through a reimagined brand strategy, visual identity, logo, communications and website. Additionally, NEXT worked with global creative company BUCK and sound design company Barking Owl to create an animated advertising campaign to launch the new brand.
About NEXT Insurance:
NEXT Insurance is transforming small business insurance with simple, digital and affordable coverage tailored to the self-employed. Trusted by 300K business owners, NEXT offers policies that are easy to buy in 10 minutes or less and provides 24/7 access to Live Certificates of Insurance, Additional Insured, and more, with no extra fees. Revolutionizing a historically complicated insurance industry, NEXT utilizes AI and machine learning to simplify the purchasing process and drive down costs by up to 30% compared to traditional policies. Founded in 2016, the company is headquartered in Palo Alto, has received a total of $881 million in venture capital funding, is rated "A- Excellent" by AM Best and has been recognized by Forbes Fintech 50, JMP Securities InsurTech 50 and Forbes Best StartUp Employers.
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INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
NEXT Insurance | August 10, 2021
NEXT Insurance, the leading digital insurtech company transforming small business insurance, today announced it is participating in Amazon Insurance Accelerator, providing Amazon sellers looking to buy insurance with instant quotes at competitive rates, directly within Amazon Seller Central. NEXT is the only US-based carrier currently participating in the initiative, further building on its partnership with Amazon Business Prime, NEXT's fully digital, customized e-commerce General Liability coverage also provides sellers with instant, automated Certificates of Insurance (COI) and seamless online claims resolution processes.
"The pandemic ushered in a tremendous amount of innovation and growth for small business e-commerce strategies and access to simple and affordable insurance to protect their livelihood is more important than ever," said Guy Goldstein, CEO of NEXT. "NEXT's digital insurance products are easily embedded into the software systems that small businesses regularly use to run their companies. Today, through Amazon Insurance Accelerator, sellers can seamlessly purchase NEXT's affordable and customized insurance coverage for a simple, frictionless experience. We are excited to partner with Amazon to support small businesses in their quest to thrive."
Amazon requires most third-party sellers carry commercial liability insurance in order to protect both customers and sellers. Through Amazon Insurance Accelerator, third-party sellers on Amazon will be referred to NEXT's online application directly from their account. In 10 minutes or less, sellers can get a customized quote and bind a policy. NEXT automatically adds Amazon as an 'additional insured' and instantly emails COI information back to the seller, creating a simplified, no-worry insurance process that meets Amazon's requirements. In the past, sellers would have to manually mail in COIs, but with this innovative NEXT feature, customers can experience the simplicity and ease of a truly digital experience so they can focus on what matters most - running their business.
To further support small business owners, NEXT is offering an exclusive 10% discount on General Liability insurance for Amazon third-party sellers. Learn more about how to partner with NEXT to help your customers access affordable, simple and fast small business insurance.
About NEXT Insurance
NEXT Insurance is transforming small business insurance with simple, digital and affordable coverage tailored to the self-employed. Trusted by 250K business owners, NEXT offers policies that are easy to buy in 10 minutes or less and provides 24/7 access to Live Certificates of Insurance, Additional Insured, and more, with no extra fees. Revolutionizing a historically complicated insurance industry, NEXT utilizes AI and machine learning to simplify the purchasing process and drive down costs by up to 30% compared to traditional policies.
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